India and China have agreed to set up a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on the boundary question, Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said in his speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs.
“[It] will help enhance our mutual trust and maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he said.
Mr Wen termed the border dispute would not be easy to resolve. “It requires patience and will take a fairly long period of time. Only with sincerity, mutual trust and perseverance can we eventually find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution,” Mr Wen said.
“In the face of difficulty, the most important thing to do is to press ahead along the right track, narrow differences step by step, build consensus and increase confidence,” he added.
On the issue of trans-border rivers, Mr Wen said China took seriously India’s concerns and was ready to further improve the joint working mechanism. “We will do whatever we can and do it even better. I would like to assure our Indian friends that all the upstream development activities by China will be based on scientific planning and study and will
never harm downstream interests,” he said.
In his speech, Mr Wen quoted from the Upanishads, praised Mahatma Gandhi, and remembered Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis, who was part of a team of Indian doctors who went to offer medical assistance during the Sino-Japanese war in 1938, and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Drawing a parallel between Chinese calligraphy and Yoga, he noted that while Yogic postures signify the union of soul and physical strength, the Chinese art demonstrated the strength of hand and that of the mind.
“The Upanishad says ‘the truth is above all and is the common foundation of conception,”’ he said as he went on the describe his “friendship” with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “Prime Minister Singh and I are old friends. We have had long discussions on a dozen of occasions and forged a sincere friendship,” he said.